Spending Time in Nature Improves Sleep Quality

Aug 28, 2015

There's one more reason to spend more time in nature--it may help you sleep better.

A new study from the University of Illinois found spending time in a park or by the beach may improve sleep quality in men and both men and women 65 and older.Exposure to nature helped all adults involved in the study, but the results were most significant for those two groups.

Researchers analyzed data on 255,171 adults recorded in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Using self-reported data, the researchers determined whether study participants lived near natural amenities, such as parks, forests or beaches.

Participants who reported poor sleep 21 to 29 days in the prior month were consistently less likely to have access to natural environments compared to people who reported poor sleep only one to six days. Researchers speculate that people who live close to the great outdoors are more likely to do physical activities, which could exhaust them and lead to better sleep.

One limitation of the study, however, was that it did not examine whether or not participants actually took advantage and used their natural surroundings or not; it looked only at what was accessible.